As 10th WNBA season begins, the West is still on top

It's still the wild, wild WestAs the curtain goes up on the WNBA's 10th season, one conference continues to dominate and set the pace

W.H. STICKNEY JR., Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, May 21, 2006

AS the WNBA's 10th season gets under way, history will be studied and celebrated during the next four months, special moments will be revisited, players and coaches will be honored and a champion will be crowned.

Fourteen teams are going after silver trophy, including the Chicago Sky, the league's newest franchise.

Sacramento is the defending champion. Who — or whether anyone — will be able unseat the Monarchs and star Yolanda Griffith remains the subject of much debate.

"Last year, we were one game short of making the playoffs," Washington Mystics coach Richie Adubato said. "We lost the tiebreaker to Detroit. I feel that Connecticut would probably be a favorite in most polls (to win this year), because they've been in the Finals (two) years in a row.

"They have a team that's been together, and they're led by some veteran players, especially Taj McWilliams-Franklin at center, and Asjha Jones and then (Nykesha) Sales and (Katie) Douglas. It's a good group."

In for a Shock?

Some believe the
Detroit Shock
are champions in waiting for similar reasons. Coach
Bill Laimbeer
had his team running and gunning
in the preseason as well or better
than anyone en route to a 2-1 record.

Laimbeer likes what he has seen so far from a healthy Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, Katie Smith and the rest of the Shock. But he said how Detroit fares depends on how the players feel about themselves and relate to their teammates.

"It doesn't matter if I like them or not," Laimbeer said. "It's up to the players. And we talked to them a lot about that this year. This is the year the players have to stand up, and they (have to) like their team and each other.

"The chemistry is outstanding. But it's still up to them and they know it. And they're going to do all the talking this year."

No matter which team comes out of the Eastern Conference, it will be hard-pressed to end the championship domination of the West. In the WNBA's nine seasons, only two teams from the East have prevailed.

Two with an asterisk, that is.

When the Comets began their run of four titles in 1997, they were members of the East. The league expanded the next year from eight teams to 10, and the Comets moved to the West.

Detroit, one of the two original expansion franchises, is the only other East team to be crowned. In the rookie season of Cheryl Ford, daughter of former Utah Jazz All-Star Karl Malone, the Shock prevailed over Los Angeles in 2003, ending the two-year reign of the Sparks.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered by Cash, one of five All-Stars in the Shock's starting lineup, and team bickering helped scuttle Detroit's hopes the last two years.

Welcome to Westhead

Any one of four teams from the Western Conference — the Monarchs, Storm, Comets or Sparks — could win it all in 2006. The
Phoenix Mercury
and first-year coach
Paul Westhead
may have to settle for second-class status in the playoffs for the third consecutive year, even with the most outstanding player to come into the league in the last two years:
Diana Taurasi
.

"Being new into the league, it's really hard to have expectations beyond, 'Let's find out what happens (in the final exhibition),' and then we'll know what we know we need to do as we enter into the important season," Westhead said. "But
I'm happy. I like the effort of my team."

The Mercury began the season with a 105-78 loss at Sacramento on Saturday.

Monarchs might be better

John Whisenant
, who left a front-office job to become coach of the Monarchs three years ago, has been eager to begin the quest for a second title.

"I guess we have a little bit of a target on our back," he said. "But according to the experts, we're not going to win again, so that's good by me, I like that one.

"It's been an interesting training camp in that we've probably brought in few more younger players than we have the last couple of years. Our veteran group is an experienced group. I think that they're going to carry the load for our team, if it's possible. I think we're a better team than we were last year.

"It's going to be very hard to duplicate the record we had last year. The league keeps getting better every year, but we're happy with where we are with our team, the progress has been good, and we're just kind of anxious to get going."